This report summarizes the past 10 years
(1998-2008) of World Bank engagement at the state level in
four selected large federal countries: Brazil, India,
Nigeria, and... Show More +
the Russian Federation. The report identifies
lessons and good practice examples that warrant further
examination and wider dissemination. First, the study
confirms the desirability of continued selective lending in
a few focus states. The Bank's engagement with
progressive, reformist states has added value and has been
highly appreciated, but to enhance the poverty impact of
state-level interventions, greater weight should be given to
the needs of the poorest states by balancing states'
propensity to reform and the concentration of poverty within
them. Experience shows that it has been possible to achieve
results in some of the poorer, low-capacity states through
persistent work with committed state counterparts and
partnerships with other donors. Second, continued focus on
public finance management appears sound, irrespective of
whether engagement is confined to this area or serves as an
entry point for broader engagement. Third, there is
considerable scope for greater impact from knowledge
transfer and expanded knowledge services. Show Less -
Type: Publication
Report#: 54435
Date: April 21, 2010
This publication reflects the tremendous
progress that Sao Paulo has made in becoming a city that
serves all its citizens. Assisted by outstanding
coordination from... Show More +
the World Bank, the city governments of
Sao Paulo and the cities alliance have had the privilege of
sharing mutual technical support, with favorable results for
everyone. However, it is important to emphasize that this
partnership has had a significant impact on the cities
alliance itself. Prominent among the various lessons learned
is the importance of taking the long view. Doing so has
ensured that this partnership could survive different city
government administrations, as well as changes in leadership
at the cities alliance. The cooperation begun in 2001 has
remained stable and consistent through different city
administrations and changes at the cities alliance. Sao
Paulo has become an important model for the cities alliance
in its support for cities around the world. The city
government affirmed the crucial importance of working with
reliable data, supported by the kind of comprehensive system
of managerial information that most cities do not yet have.
Sao Paulo also recognized the importance of investing in a
slum upgrading program and legitimizing land tenure in
subdivisions on a city-wide scale by appropriating
substantial budgeted funds, a key component of municipal
administration, year after year. Continuous support and
funding from all three levels of government local, state,
and federal demonstrate the priority given to combating
urban poverty and promoting economic growth. Show Less -
Type: Publication
Report#: 62484
Date: January 1, 2009
Author:
Franca, Elisabete ;
Herling, Tereza
This book, Financing cities, emphasized
case studies on different topics to look at the interactions
of a range of variables and factors and to see how they fit
together.... Show More +
Rather than require each case to follow the same
format, the authors have structured their papers around the
issues that matter most from their perspective in addressing
the topic in hand. The first part of this book presents case
studies describing the framework established at the national
level to promote urban infrastructure finance while ensuring
fiscal discipline and reviewing recent experience as well as
future challenges. The subjects covered include the impact
of political and fiscal decentralization, limitations on
borrowing, managing moral hazard, the role of the financial
sector, the achieving of the right balance between stringent
controls and encouragement of local governments taking
responsibility for fiscal discipline coupled with market
discipline. The cases featured include three of the
world's largest decentralized nations; together the
five countries featured in the conference account for nearly
a third of the world's urban population. Part I
includes case studies for each of the five countries
featured in the conference: Brazil (Chapter 1), China
(Chapter 2), India (Chapter 3), Poland (Chapter 4) and South
Africa (Chapter 5). Part II then shifts from the frameworks
for fiscal discipline to urban infrastructure investments
and the strategies used to mobilize investment funding.
Chapters 6 and 7 examine the financing strategies for urban
infrastructure in Shanghai and Brazil respectively. The next
two chapters focus on specialized intermediaries offering
urban infrastructure finance in cities. One is a fully
private venture in South Africa (Chapter 9) while the other,
in Tamil Nadu, India (Chapter 8), is a spin-off of a
government fund with minority private ownership. The final
two chapters examine experiences with two other mechanisms
for mobilizing funding for infrastructure investments from
the private sector, land leasing and sales (Chapter 10) and
private participation in infrastructure operations (Chapter 11). Show Less -
Type: Publication
Report#: 40480
Date: January 1, 2007
Author:
Clarke Annez, Patricia ;
Peterson, George E.
This paper explores the extent to which
formal, regulated financial institutions such as banks have
been able to partner with "correspondents"-
commercial entities whose... Show More +
primary objective and business is
other than the provision of financial services. The paper
illustrates the case of Brazil, where banks recently have
developed extensive networks of such correspondents. Such
arrangements result in lower costs and shared risks for
participating financial institutions, making these
arrangements an attractive vehicle for outreach to the
underserved. Correspondent banking requires an enabling
environment to emerge, and poses some regulatory challenges
and some increase in risk. While there are reasons why this
model was particularly successful in Brazil, it may be
replicable elsewhere if appropriate regulatory adjustments
are undertaken. Show Less -
Type: Publication
Report#: 36398
Date: June 5, 2006
Author:
Parsons, Adam ;
Urdapilleta, Eduardo ;
Kumar, Anjali ;
Nair, Ajai
The objective of this report is twofold:
to provide a comprehensive assessment of the state of
regulatory governance in infrastructure industries in Brazil
and to suggest... Show More +
possible indicators for future monitoring.
After the introduction, Section 2 sets up the analytical
framework for the report, identifying key components of
regulatory governance, namely, autonomy (political and
financial), procedures for decision making, instruments
(including personnel), and accountability. Section 3
assesses each of these components in practice, reporting the
results of a survey with 21 regulatory agencies in Brazil,
which was designed and implemented by the research team in
2005. Section 4 measures regulatory governance based on
three related indexes, ranks the Brazilian regulators among
themselves, and compares the proposed indexes with two other
indicators available in the literature. Section 5 presents
the conclusions. Show Less -
Type: Publication
Report#: 36306
Date: January 1, 2006
Author:
Correa, Paulo ;
Pereira, Carlos ;
Melo, Marcus ;
Mueller, Bernardo
Privatization is under attack. Beginning
in the 1980s, thousands of failing state-owned enterprises
worldwide have been turned over to the private sector. But
public... Show More +
opinion has turned against privatization. A large
political backlash has been brewing for some time, infused
by accusations of corruption, abuse of market power, and
neglect of the poor. What is the real record of
privatization and are the criticisms justified? This report
evaluates the empirical evidence on privatization in a
region that has witnessed an extensive decline in the
state's share of production over the past 20 years. The
book is a compilation of recent studies that provide a
comprehensive analysis of the record of and accusations
against privatization, with important recommendations for
the future. Seven countries are investigated: Argentina,
Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru. Show Less -
Type: Publication
Report#: 34428
Date: March 15, 2005
Author:
Garron, Mauricio ;
Serra, Pablo ;
Torero, Maximo ;
Lopez de Silanes, Florencio [editor] ;
Barossi-Filho, Milton ;
Gertler, Paul ;
Macedo, Robert ;
Schargrodsky, Ernesto ;
Sturzenegger, Federico ;
Anuatti-Neto, Francisco ;
Ramirez, Manuel ;
Fischer, Ronald ;
Gledson de Carvalho, Antonio ;
Gutierrez, Rodrigo ;
Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio ;
Galiani, Sebastian ;
Pombo, Carlos ;
Chong, Alberto [editor] ;
Capra, Katherine ;
Machicado, Carlos
This volume presents a set of Policy
Notes prepared by the World Bank's Brazil Team with
partners during 2002 as a contribution for the debate of
policies by the new... Show More +
federal and state governments elected in
October 2002. The objectives of making these Policy Notes
available to a broader audience is twofold. It could
contribute to the discussion in Brazil and elsewhere about
public policies to be formulated by the Brazilian
governments for the period 2003-2006, and beyond. It could
also serve as a vehicle to exchange lessons of experience
from Brazil to the rest of the world and vice versa. Since
the Policy Notes were written for an incoming administration
that would be well familiar with recent developments in
Brazil, they do not attempt a comprehensive assessment of
Brazil's impressive recent progress but rather focus on
the challenges in areas where World Bank and related partner
experience appears relevant. The Policy Notes were prepared
during 2002, a period during which economic uncertainties
mounted ahead of the presidential elections of October 2002.
They do not reflect information on the important policy
discussions and developments after the elections. These
notes do not deal with all policy issues of relevance for
Brazil. Even on those issues which are addressed, the
assessment may be focused on specific aspects. The selection
of topics and the emphasis in the Policy Notes are, thus,
driven by policy priorities and their timeliness. The Policy
Notes do not attempt to present a comprehensive policy
agenda; rather, they are meant to constitute timely
contributions for discussions. The initial objective was to
pull together findings of past World Bank Group studies,
based on numerous other work by Brazilian and international
authors, and experiences on Brazil, as well as relevant
international experiences, and make them available to the
new governments in a synthetic form. Show Less -
Type: Publication
Report#: 27832
Date: December 1, 2003
Increasing importance has been placed on
an effective and efficient judiciary by governments and
civil society. However, apart from decisions that they
render, little... Show More +
is known about court performance trends. The
judicial reform experiences so far have made it clear that
more information is needed to review and compare trends
among different countries. This paper addresses the
efficiency aspect of court performance, as it can be
quantitatively measured using objective data. In addition,
congestion, cost, and delay are some of the problems most
often complained about by the public. This paper reviews
data collected from eleven countries on three continents and
provides a description of performance. The main areas of
comparison include the number of cases filed, resolved, and
pending per judge, the clearance and congestion rates, time
to resolve a case, the number of judges, and the cost of a
case. The paper also reviews the recent trends within each
country and discusses some possible reforms. Show Less -
Type: Publication
Report#: WTP430
Date: July 31, 1999
Author:
Dakolias, Maria
